Project "Step Up" deadline May 31

8th and 9th grade public school students encouraged to join

HONOLULU, Hawai‘i –Step Up, a program aimed at preparing Hawai‘i’s public school students for success after high school will be closing its pledge deadline on May 31, 2010. Students in the 8th and 9th grades attending Hawai‘i’s public schools are encouraged to “step up” during their high school years and pledge their commitment to earn the Board of Education’s Step Up (Recognition) Diploma. Pledge forms are available at schools, or can be found online at www.stepuphawaii.org

The BOE Step Up Diploma has been designed with curriculum aligned to college and career-ready standards, to prepare students for life after high school. The Obama administration recently unveiled its plan to overhaul the No Child Left Behind law and plans to replace it with a program that ensures students are ready for college or career rather than grade-level proficiency. Hawai‘i’s Step Up program is in line with this new blueprint for education.

“We have received positive responses from over 47 schools in Hawai‘i, each submitting pledge forms with their student’s commitment to earn the BOE Step Up Diploma. In fact, one hundred percent of students at a small Hawaiian Immersion school on the Big Island called Ke Kula O Ehunuikaimalino have pledged, and Mililani High School has turned in over 465 pledge forms, representing 84% of their ninth grade class” said Tammi Chun, executive director of Hawai‘i P-20 Partnerships for Education, the organization that created the Step Up campaign.

Hawai‘i P-20 Partnerships for Education is a statewide collaboration led by the Good Beginnings Alliance, Department of Education and University of Hawai‘i System to strengthen the education pipeline from early childhood through higher education so that all students achieve career and college success.